William Kristol Hub

Yesterday I reported that conservative pundit Bill Kristol said the decision to get on the marriage equality train by some members of his party will "earn the contempt" of the GOP base and called those choosing to support it "pathetic".

Conservative pundit Bill Kristol thinks the decision to get on the marriage equality train by some members of his party will "earn the contempt" of the GOP base and finds interest in what young people think about it "pathetic," Mediaite reports:

Noting that the Republican “establishment” (not including himself, of course) looks like a herd “running to catch up with the trends” because “some polls show [same-sex marriage] is now 58% popular and five years ago it was only 43% popular” (yes, that’s called an upward trend), Kristol lamented how some of the party’s leaders believe it necessary to take on the “fashionable” position of being okay with gay marriage.

“Not only will those earn the contempt of people who believe in defending traditional marriage,” he said, but they won’t even get credit for hopping onto the bandwagon.

“This kind of pathetic attempt to say, ‘Oh, my God! Young people especially are liberal so let’s just rush to cater to them,’ as if they’re going to respect you if you just embrace the views of some 26-year-old who doesn’t know anything honestly.”

This doesn't happen very often: progressive LGBT groups and neo-conservatives actually agree on something, namely that former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel should not be President Obama's pick for Defense Secretary. Though they have decidedly different reasons.

For equality-minded activists, Hagel's objectionable for his anti-gay voting record and, more to the point, comments he made in 1998, when openly gay James Hormel was being considered as ambassador to Luxembourg.

"They are representing America," Hagel said of ambassadors. "They are representing our
lifestyle, our values, our standards. And I think it is an inhibiting
factor to be gay - openly aggressively gay like Mr. Hormel - to do an
effective job." Hormel did eventually get the job.

HRC called Hagel's comments "unacceptable," according to BuzzFeed, while Victory Fund's Denis Dison quipped, "Today openly LGBT Americans serve throughout the three branches of the
federal government, and at very high levels; those who are still
openly, aggressively anti-gay in 2012 probably won't be able to function
very well in Washington."

Meanwhile, over on the right, the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol is trying to portray Hagel as "anti-Israel." "Anti-Israel propagandists are thrilled," Kristol wrote. "Hagel certainly does have anti-Israel, pro-appeasement-of-Iran bona
fides. While still a senator, Hagel said that 'a military strike against
Iran, a military option, is not a viable, feasible, responsible
option.'"

Writing on the right's attacks on Hagel, Robert Wright at the Atlantic notes, "[The magazine] is employing what you might call a two-tiered strategy: the low road and the lower
road."

For its part, and its concerns about Hagel's past anti-gay comments, HRC says hope the former senator explains himself. "We look forward to hearing from Senator Hagel on these issues should he be nominated," said spokesperson Michael Cole-Schwartz.

William Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, has refused to condemn an email advertisement sent out by the paper that was written by Loudon County, Virginia wingnut and anti-gay activist Eugene Delgaudio, warning people that federal anti-bullying legislation is a secret plan to "indoctrinate" children with "homosexual propaganda".

Dear Pro-family American, The Radical Homosexuals infiltrating the United States Congress have a plan: Indoctrinate an entire generation of American children with pro-homosexual propaganda and eliminate traditional values from American society. Their ultimate dream is to create a new America based on sexual promiscuity in which the values you and I cherish are long forgotten. I hate to admit it, but if they pass the deceptively named "Student Non-Discrimination Act," (H.R. 998 & S. 555) that's exactly what they'll do. Better named the "Homosexual Classrooms Act," its chief advocate in Congress is Rep. Jared Polis, himself an open homosexual and radical activist. And it's dangerously close to becoming the law of the land....

....You see, the Homosexual Classrooms Act contains a laundry list of anti-family provisions that will: Require schools to teach appalling homosexual acts so "homosexual students" don't feel "singled out" during already explicit sex-ed classes; Spin impressionable students in a whirlwind of sexual confusion and misinformation, even peer pressure to "experiment" with the homosexual "lifestyle;" Exempt homosexual students from punishment for propositioning, harassing, or even sexually assaulting their classmates, as part of their specially-protected right to "freedom of self-expression;" Force private and even religious schools to teach a pro-homosexual curriculum and purge any reference to religion if a student claims it creates a "hostile learning environment" for homosexual students. And that's just the beginning of the Homosexual Lobby's radical agenda....

....other countries like Britain are already experimenting with this kind of legislation, such as mandating public schools inject pro-homosexual content into every aspect of education. Word problems in math classes are now to include homosexual characters. History classes will document the "civil rights" struggle against the "oppressive" pro-family establishment. And it's even started to infiltrate our state governments. In California, lawmakers want to "require schools to portray lesbians, homosexuals, transsexuals ... as positive role models to children in all public schools." Sexual deviants being held up as models of virtue?

H.R. 998 already has 150 co-sponsors in the House! And S. 555 already has 34 co-sponsors in the Senate! That’s why I need you to act quickly — right away — to protect our nation’s youth. I have prepared the official “Protect Our Children’s Innocence” Petition to Congress for you to sign.

Please click here to sign it right away so I can rush it to the Capitol with thousands more.